


Welcome to Earth, Just as It Was Before You Left It

by everythingmurky



Series: An Unintentional Paradox [1]
Category: Doctor Who
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Gen, Post-Episode AU: s02e13 Doomsday
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-30
Updated: 2017-01-30
Packaged: 2018-09-20 21:33:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 622
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9517100
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/everythingmurky/pseuds/everythingmurky
Summary: The Doctor has an accident in the TARDIS and ends up crossing the path of someone who is gone.





	

**Author's Note:**

> First time I came across Doctor Who, I fell very much in love with the fandom and of course had to write for it for as long as my inspiration (which I called by other names back then) would allow. Sadly, my time flitting in and out of the fandom was short, as I have a terrible attention span that's always being pulled into something new or rediscovered, and so by the time I started this concept back then, I was on my way out of the fandom.
> 
> Oh, and someone else had done the concept very well and far better than I could, I thought.
> 
> Still, I do like this prologue I started, and it was nice to dig it up when I found Broadchurch and gave into the crossover idea I had. Ten is still my doctor.

* * *

The TARDIS had a mind of its own.

So did time for that matter.

So, when the TARDIS had a—slight, mind you, _slight_ hiccup on the way back to—well, no, it was the way _to_ —Theromonica, that charming little planet just off the Beltway, it could have been the TARDIS choosing to exert her power, or time itself setting his path, the nature and evolution that he had to follow. He didn't know.

Of course, wondering the reasons why something was happening wasn't nearly as stopping himself from crashing on impact. The TARDIS was out of control, and he was descending down through the atmosphere, burning up in the heat. The TARDIS was used to popping in, popping out; it didn't land like primitive space vehicles, not through atmospheric re-entry.

Which was why the TARDIS was screaming in agony as it tumbled, and he was falling with it, trying desperately to stop himself from flying around the TARDIS and stop both of them from being obliterated on impact.

With one last groan, the TARDIS hit the ground. He flew away from the center console, hitting the rail, and coming to rest on the grate. _Oh, hell,_ he thought, and let loose a string of curses in Gallifreyan that not even _he_ understood as he struggled to his feet. 

His head positively ached, and he couldn't hardly see. He hadn't felt this bad since his regeneration, and there was no Jackie Tyler to leave tea for his wrecked mind. There wasn't anything. No Rose. No family and friends of Rose that he put up with for her benefit, just him. The Doctor and his TARDIS.

No, not the TARDIS. As before, in the crash where they'd discovered Pete's World, the TARDIS was damaged. Badly. He reached out to comfort his ship, and a spark burned his hand. “All right, all right. I'll let you mend on your own, then. But I warn you, no redecorating.”

He went down the ramp and opened the door. The TARDIS was lying on its side, deep in a garbage pit. Well, that was lovely. He'd have to move it, but it wouldn't be going anywhere for a while. He climbed unsteadily out the side, tumbled onto the ground, and looked around.

He had to determine where—and when—he was. Judging by the waste, he'd say that it was a human planet, but that was not necessarily true. Other planets had waste, and he was being rude again. No Rose to stop him, though.

He got up, climbed up the side of the pit, and looked over the edge. Hmm. Looked like Earth. Early twenty-first century. Interesting. And was this... Probably Cardiff, knowing him. He shook his head and tried to find his bearings. He should head—that way. Yes, that seemed right.

He took a step forward, only to have the ground crumble beneath him, and he started to fall down the incline, unable to grab hold of anything to stop his descent. He rolled out into the street.

Ah, the vagaries of time, he thought as he managed to hit the pavement just as someone came around the corner in a yellow blur of a car. He hit the side of the bumper and finally came to rest.

“Oh, my god, did I kill him? Is he dead?” _Wait a minute. I know that voice. That's Mickey the Idiot. But... That was impossible. Unless..._ “Rose, what do we do? We gotta do something, Rose.”

“Hold on, Mickey, give me a minute,” she said, leaning down next to him. She gently touched his face, and he felt tears in his eyes.

“Rose,” he whispered, and then the blackness came, and it all went away.


End file.
